An Icy Wonderland [Closed]

Amberpaw's long fur was fluffed against the chilly air as she took a small step forward onto the sleek surface of the frozen water. What was once a series of pools was now a large icy field - the likes of which Amber had not seen before. Under the weight of her paw, the ice seemed solid with no chances of shattering under her complete weight. So, she took a deep breath as she drew back, before with a sudden burst of energy sprang onto the ice. She gasped in surprise when her paws hit the ice - instead of coming to a complete stop like she had been expecting, she slide forward with little friction to stop her. She clawed at the ground with a faint hiss trying her best to stop herself and gain her barrings but instead her paws slipped out from under her. She took in a small breath of pain as she slammed into the ice, finally coming to a stop. She blinked as she glanced around the icy field before letting out a laugh as she attempted to pull herself to her paws only to slip once again. Falling on the ice hurt as the icy string flashed though her but she felt like a kit again as she laughed a bit louder with a shake of her head. It was a welcoming feeling.

Poplarpaw turned around a frosty clump of reeds, heading to the broken pools. He wasn't sure if they were frozen over yet or not, it was beyond cold, so the young apprentice took his free time to go investigate. He came to a stop, feeling a small breeze ruffle his longish pelt. To his surprise, another apprentice had already beaten him there, one he knew by the name of Amberpaw.

He smiled, watching as she slipped over her paws once on the ice. Poplarpaw held back a chuckle, but as soon as she started to laugh, he couldn't contain himself. "What a fall!" He called playfully, making her aware of his presence.

Amberpaw was struggling to get back on her paws when a voice rang out behind her - causing her to glance over her shoulders to see Poplarpaw standing there. She knew of the tom, not that they had really ever talked but the apprentice den was a small place. She pouted playfully at him, flickering her long fluffy tail at him. "Like you could fare better on this ice!" she called out to him, finally getting back on her paws but she was careful not to make any sudden movement - feeling like even the slightest twitch would send her crashing back onto the ice.

"Watch me!" He said in a cocky tone, something that often rang out from his personality. He glanced at the ice, putting a careful paw onto the slippery ground, his claws unsheathed to hopefully offer more support.

Yet, his plan backfired, his claws did make things slightly easier, but within the second step he miss placed a paw and caused himself to slip to the side. He hit the ice with a thud, grunting as his chin hit the frozen surface.

Amberpaw raised an eyebrow as she ruffled her fur, watching Poplarpaw as he stepped onto the ice only to fall the second step in. She chuckled as she slowly started to turn herself around, hers paws slipping in the simple movement but she managed to keep her footing. "Not so easy, is it?" she bragged with an amused purr as she took a step toward the fallen tom. The moment she took the step forward, her paw slipped out from under her. She gasped in surprise, quickly throwing her weight down into a crouch to keep herself from falling. Surprising, it worked. She blinked before she started to crawl slowly toward Poplarpaw, frowning slightly at how embarrassing she felt doing this silly crawl across the ice.

"Please, muffle your applause," he said with a lighthearted laugh, watching as she scooted over to him. "Well at least that's proving to be effective." He said with a smile.
The young tom slowly got to his paws, so he wouldn't look like a goof with his legs sprawled to the side. He very carefully tucked his legs under his body, and stood rigid on the ice.

"Effective but embarrassing," she huffed with a slight shake of her pelt as she watched him manage to stand up. Seeing how his idea worked as well, she decided to copy him. Bracing her paws beneath her, she forced herself upright and despite wavering slightly she found herself standing solidly on the ice. She looked down at her paws, catching a faint hint of her reflection upon the sleek, slipply surface the two apprentices stood on. She frowned softly, before she replaced it with a smile. Suddenly she spun, sliding on the ice before she leaped away from Poplarpaw and farther into the icy field. Upon hitting the ground, she fell back into a crouch as she allowed herself to slide across the ice with a laugh. She came to a stop, glancing over her shoulder toward the tom. "I have to admit, playing on the ice like this reminds me of being a kit!"

"As long as you're not falling down, I'd say it works." He said with a smirk.

The apprentice tried to pad forward again, desperate to master the art of walking on ice. "First one to the other side of this ice sheet gets the first pick of prey!" he said playfully, and placed a paw before the other, almost immediately slipping.

Amberpaw's whiskers twitched in amusement as she watched Poplarpaw attempt to walk on the ice some more as he attempted to make a challenge between it. She wanted to scoff at his feeble attempts to cross the ice - trying to take it slow would keep him from falling but it wouldn't let him beat her. His eyes focused on the other side of the ice before she crouched, ready to lunge forward to cover more around. But, when she attempted to kick off to launch herself forward, she gasped in surprised as her back paws slid instead of sending her forward and sent her crashing into the ice face-first. It took only a moment for her to pull her head up from the ice, hissing from the stinging icy pain that lashed though her nose. "Why does ice have to be so hard to move on?" she growled as she pulled herself to her paws and started to crawl forward - determined to win this race even if it wasn't in the most graceful way.

Poplarpaw attempted to keep his balance, his paws shaky on the ice. He held back a laugh when he saw Amberpaw come crashing to the ground within moments, the tom glanced at her, a small grin crossing his muzzle.

Focusing on the task at hand, he took another half-crouch step forward, a very awkward one at that, he was pretty desperate to keep himself form falling again.

As far as she could tell, she was winning. Her fur fluffed in embarrassment as she crawled along the ice as her nose still strung from her ungraceful fall, glancing over her shoulders to see Poplarpaw was still slowly making his way over. There was no way he could beat her with that slow of a movement speed. She came to a stop, grinning as she lashed her tail. "I don't think you are going to beat me moving that slow, Poplarpaw! You should just call defeat now!" she called back at him before she started to move forward again as she felt his pride wouldn't allow him to admit defeat that easily.

"No way!" He yowled. Poplarpaw was desperate to win at this point, he tucked his paws under him as he had done before, but instead of keeping still, he dug his hind claws into the slick ice, providing slight traction. He jumped forward, slipping a bit as he did. The apprentice landed with a thud behind Amberpaw, his tactic hadn't worked too well, but at least it got him forward quicker.

Of course he didn't give up. Amberpaw shook her head, figuring victory was just a paw-length from reach. She was moving slowly, making every step count when Poplarpaw suddenly landed beside her with a thud, causing her to yelp in surprise. The shock of Poplarpaw landing next to her and the faint shake of the ice caused her to slip, hitting the ice hard. She groaned as she tried to get back to her paws - counting it lucky that the ice hadn't broken from their falling. Seems it was really frozen solid. Her eyes flickered to the apprentice next to her, now concern that she wouldn't get the first pick of prey. Crawling wasn't going to cut it. Using her claws, she kicked herself forward - keeping her body low to keep her from falling as she slide across the ice. They were so close to the end of it now.

Poplarpaw wouldn't have a chance. "Using my tactic? That's completely fair." He commented with a smirk. Unlucky for him, she was just a paw away from reaching the end of the ice. He got frantic now, trying his best to scoot along, which didn't exactly get him anywhere.

Amberpaw didn't respond to him, victory was within her grasp. With a final push she slide into the snow that marked the end of the ice they had been on. She turned to look at Poplarpaw, a large smug grin on her face as she flickered her tail at him. "And I win," she purred, basking in her victory before pausing, shrugging her shoulders. "But I suppose it was rather close in the end."